Duggan: Going beyond being a fly on the wall

School has just started but it’s already report card time, at least for me.

Regular readers of this column might recall that in May, I wrote about the Coloradoan’s push to improve its connections with the community. I also mentioned some things I was considering doing as part of that important effort.

Some of you might be wondering how that’s going.

As an organization, we’ve done a lot. We’ve sponsored and participated in a variety of events around the community. We’ve welcomed visitors to the building and our daily news meetings to learn about how we operate.

We’re reaching out to our readers and reacting to what they have to say more than I’ve ever seen in my 18 years at the Coloradoan.

There’s more of that to come. Watch the paper and our digital platforms to keep track of what we are doing.

Personally, I’ve made some progress in overcoming my natural tendency to simply be a “fly on the wall” and take in events rather than participate in them.

To that end, my colleague Pat Ferrier and I had an “office hours” event on Thursday at the Dazbog Coffee shop on North Mason Street. Readers were invited to meet us and discuss current topics.

We had a great turnout, with more than 20 folks participating in a wide-ranging, two-hour conversation that sparked some good story ideas.

I have not joined a service organization, as I suggested was a possibility. Thanks to the Fort Collins Lions Club and Overland Sertoma for inviting me to check out their meetings and the good work they do.

While both are fine organizations, I’m just not much of a joiner. I never have been.

It’s kind of like the old Groucho Marx line: “I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member.”

So instead, I’m going through the process of volunteering for Senior Alternatives in Transportation, or SAINT.

SAINT is local nonprofit that provides free rides to seniors and disabled persons who cannot drive. Volunteers transport clients who live independently but need help getting around, such as to the grocery store or a doctor’s appointment.

The need for the service is great. My expectation of volunteering with SAINT is to be useful and make more connections in the community.

Another form of connecting is through the Citizens Police Academy put on by Fort Collins Police Services. I was admitted to this year’s program with about 30 other residents.

I expect we’ll learn a lot about how police officers go about their business during the 12-week course and how they build relationships with community.

And then there’s the advertising campaign. For reasons only someone in marketing would understand, I was selected to be part of a “personality” advertising campaign for the Coloradoan featuring reporters.

The idea is to show readers and potential subscribers that we are regular folks and genuine members of the community. We choose to live and work here.

I recorded a radio spot and a promotional video for the campaign. I also posed on my bike for an ad that is starting to show up in the print version of the Coloradoan.

Descriptors of me used in ad are “outdoorsy, inquisitive and witty.” I didn’t choose those words, but they seem appropriate.

Based on the photo, I might have chosen “balding, sweaty and kind of grumpy.”

There’s a reason I’m not in marketing, just as there is a reason I and the rest of the Coloradoan staff do what we do:

We want to tell the stories that are important to our community.

Kevin Duggan is a senior reporter. Contact him at (970) 224-7744 or KevinDuggan@coloradoan.com. Follow him at Coloradoan Kevin Duggan on Facebook or @coloradoan_dugg on Twitter.